Bracelet attachment



May 23, 1939. GQULDEN 2,159,079

BRACELET ATTACHMENT Filed July 15, 1938 Patented May 23, 1939 PATENTOFFlE BRACELET ATTACHMENT Albert B. Goulden, Los Angeles, Calif.

7 Application July 15, 1938, Serial No. 219,399

5 Claims. (o1. zit-71 v The'present invention relates to braceletattachments' and pertains more particularly to an improvedextensiblebracelet clasp, for watches or the like. This application is acontinuation in part of my co-pending application Serial No.

1. .6.725 filed July 31, 1937.

In addition to carrying forth certain of the objects and featuresoutlined in the foregoing application, the present invention has amongits more important objects the provision of improved joint means forpivotally interconnecting the foldable elements comprising theattachment; to provide an improved casing combination construction forhousing the extensible parts; to furnish improved manual releasablemeans permitting extension of the extendible parts to provide improvedstop means to limit distance to which certain of: the extensible partsmay be extended; generally simplify the parts and provide a constructionwherein the efficiency of their co-action is increased and their cost ofmanufacture is diminished.

Still other objects, advantages, and features of invention willobviously hereinafter appear.

In this specification is included a, sheet of drawings in which: 7 Fig.1 is a perspective View of the improved bracelet attachment showing thesections of the attachment moved. to an expanded, unfolded position.

Fig. 2 is a perspective view of the improve combination wrist platemember and releasing means shown in a detached relation. A portion ofvthe bed plate member is included in the view.

Fig. '3 is a fragmentary perspective view illustrating the manner inwhich the wrist plate shown in Fig. 2 is held against extension from themain casing proper.

Fig. 4 is a longitudinal midesection oi the device in the assembledcondition.

Fig. 5 is a greatly enlarged section taken on, line 5. 5 of Fig. 1,showing the improved pivotal interlocking joint structure of, thefoldable elements. 7

Referring in detail to the drawinathe invention in its improvedembodiment comprises an outer casing member 6 having an open bottom, awrist plate member I. telescopic within said casing 6, a. foldable,bracelet extension including a bed plate member 8, a. middle foldablemember ,9 and a terminal. ioldable member It), said middleand, terminal.foldable members, being nestable within said bed plate member, and acompression spring ll. coiledin a flat wise mam ner to extend saidbracelet extension.

All the parts just described are slightly arched -in their longitudinalextent so as to conform somewhat to the contour of the human wrist.

Along the longitudinal edges of the part6 are formed the dependingparallel flanges I2 and I3. The edges of said flanges are inturned toform guide rails l4 and I5 respectively, which travel along the groovesl6 and Il on the wrist-ward face of the plate member 1.

In the central or mid-width portion of the casing 6 is formed anelongated rise I8 in order that there may be afforded beneath said risea broad longitudinal groove IS in which is housed the resillentreleasing tongue 20. Said tongue is formed integral with or in a fixedrelation to the end wall la of the wrist plate member I. Said end wallla is an upwardly directed part of the wrist plate bottom wall lb. Thisend Wall To forms a closure for that end of the wrist member and aclosure'for the adjacent end of the casing as a whole. Said wrist platemember also has side flanges 'lc between which the extensible parts arehoused when retracted.

The leai'releasing spring 20 is longitudinally arched to a greaterdegree than the rise l8- in 5 order that the convex side of themid-length portion of said spring be caused to engage the inner side. ofthe rise [8, thus leaving the outer end portion of said spring free tobe flexed, (when manually raised by means of its upwardly offsetfingernail hold 20a) away from the wrist to release the pawl 2| of the tonguefrom the apertures 22.v

. Said apertures 22 are arranged in a series along the depressedmid-width portion 23 of the terminal foldable member HI. These aperturesare each triangularly shaped, having straight sides, two of which meetin apices directed towards the Outer end oi; said member In.

In order to prevent undesired extrusion of the wrist plate member 1., aninturned ear 25' is provided on eachflange (l2 or l3) of the casing 6.These, ears overlie a portion of the edges 'Id' of the flanges lc.

In the sides of the flanges lc, adjacent to the edges 1d are formedinwardly directed stopv lugs 26. which are, engaged. by upstandingshoulders 21 with which the inner end portion of the bed plate member 8is provided. Said bed plate member is channel shaped in cross section,its floor portion 28 having side, flanges, 29 which are not onlyfurnished with. the shoulders 25! at one end but are likewise extendedat. the opposite end toform the bearing lugs,v 30 between-andunon;

which is plvotallysupported the, inner end. oil

the middle foldable member 9. Said floor portion 28 has its inner enddeveloped into a cross flange 3| which closes the inner end of the bedplate member 8 and serves as an abutment against which spring H acts toextrude the extensible parts when the latter are manually released bylifting the free end of the spring 20 thus disengaging pawl 2! from itsretaining recess 22.

The middle foldable member 9 at each end has a trunnion-like extension32, and these extensions are journaledin apertures 33 extending throughthe lugs 30. Said extensions 32 are upset to form concave-convex heads34, the convex side of each of these heads being directed toward andhoused within concave recesses 35 in said lugs 30.

At its opposite end, said middle foldable member 9 is furnished withsimilar trunnions: also having heads 34 whereby they are pivotallyinterconnected with side flanges 36 of the terminal foldable member ID.Said terminal member has at its outer end a curled connecting flange 38whereby it connects onto a bracelet link 39, The ,closed end of thecasing6 has a likelconnecting flange which engages a bracelet link 4| atthe opposite extremity of the bracelet section indicated by the numeral42.

Before describing the operation, it should be noted that the compressionspring H is coiled in a fiatwise manner, the width of the coils thereofextending sufliciently to give said spring a working fit between theflanges 1c of the wrist plate member I. v

It is also to be noted that the presence of the depression 23 diminishesthe height required for the rise 18 in order to provide room thereunderfor the necessary flexing of the leaf spring 20.

In assembling the device, the wrist plate member 1 is telescoped intothe casing 6, the guide rails 14' and I5 of said member engaging thegrooves I6 and I! of said member I. Said flanges l2 and I3 havesuflicient resiliency to permit the ears 25 to be sprung outwardly to asuificient extent to allow the telescoping of the wrist plate memberinto its assembled relation within said casing 6. After said wrist platemember has been fully inserted, the ears 25 spring back over the edgeportion 1d of the wrist plate member to hold said member in insertedposi tion;

Inthe operation of the device, upon effecting a manual rebase of thepawl 2| from its retaining apertures, spring ll ejects the bed platemember to a position wherein the shoulders 21 thereof engage the stopmeans 26. In the latter position, the middle foldable member andterminal member are 'free to be manually extended. If the spring II ismade sufficiently-strong, the impact of the shoulders 21 with thestopmeans 26 maybe suflicient to automatically unfold parts 9 and ID fromtheir nested relation to part 8. The final adjustment of thefldevice,after refolding the partsinto their nested position, is accomplished byretracting the foldable extension to the desired extent.

It, should be understood that the present disclosures is for the purposeof illustration only and that this invention includes all modificationsand equivalents which fall within the scope of the subject matterclaimed.

'Whatis claimed is:

1. In combination, a bracelet attachment having a casing section,including an end wall "an extrudable member 'therewithin' provided witha depressed part along its mid-width, said depressed part having in it aseries of apertures which form ratchet shoulders, said apertures alsohaving substantially straight sides which meet in apices directedtowards the outer end of said extrudable member, a spring coiled in aflat wise manner so as to extend from side to side of said casing actingto extrude said extrudable member, and a release element consisting of aspring tongue, said tongue being a continuation of said end wall andhaving a free end portion protruding from said casing and furnished witha pawl portion to act upon the ratchet shoulders provided by saidapertures, said free end portion of said tongue having a finger nailhold providing a manually operable lifting means to release said tonguefrom said apertures, the aforesaid apical forming straight sides of saidapertures affording a bevelled lift means for the pawl portion of saidtongue during the retractive movement of said extrudable member againstthe action of said coiled spring.

2. In a foldoverconnecting means for bracelets, an elongated arcuatecasing having along each side a dependent flange, each of said flangeshaving an incurved lower part the free edge portion of which is directedupwardly causing said portion to form an upwardly directed guide rail, awrist plate member having downwardly directed grooves which fit oversaid rails, said wrist plate member having a floor furnished with sideflanges extending from end to end thereof, said member being slidablealong said rails into a teles'coped relation to said casing, with saidfloor portion bridging the space between said rails, and an inturned earprojecting from an end of each of the flanges of said casing in aposition to overlie an end portion of the flanges of the inserted wristmember.

3. In a foldover connecting means for bracelets, an elongated arcuate'casing having along each side a dependent flange, each'of said flangeshaving an incurved lower part the free edge portion of which is directedupwardly causing said portion to form an upwardly directed guide rail,

a wrist plate member having downwardly directed grooves which fit oversaid rails, furnished with an upturned end portion which is continued toform a tongue convexed to a less extent than the arcuate portion of saidcasing, the midlength portion of the arch of said tongue abutting theinner surface of the arch of said casing, said tongue having aprojecting portion which is upwardly deflected to form a finger naillift, there beinga pawl-forming depression in said tongue adjacent tosaid lift, an elongated extrudable member having a series of ratchetelements to cooperate with said pawl, and a spring tending to extrudesaid extrudable member.

4. The subject matter of claim 3 and, said extrudable member having ateach side a stop shoulder and said Wrist plate member having at eachside an impressed extension forming a stop to cooperate with saidshoulder to limit the extrusive movement of said extrudable member.

5. In a bracelet section, an elongated longitudinally arcuated casingincluding an end Wall; an elongated extrudable member within saidcasing, said member being provided with a longitudinal row of apertures,there being a longitudinally extending space within said casingalongside said member between it and an adjacent wall of said casing, anarcuated spring, one end of said spring being formed integral with saidend wall rearwardly of said member, the convex face .of the body portionof said spring being directed toward and housed within the arcuated wallof said casing defined by said space so as to overlie said member whenthe latter is in the retracted position, said spring tending to assume aposition wherein its convex face is arched to a greater extent than thearcuated Wall in which it is situated, that end of said spring which isfarthest from said end wall being free and protruding from the end ofsaid casing which is opposite to the end which supports said spring,said protruding end having both a lift and a pawl, the

pawl cooperating with said apertures to hold said member in selectedretracted position and said lift providing a finger nail hold to releasemanually said pawl from said apertures by a lifting action, andyieldable means comprising a spring coiled in a fiatwise manneroccupying the full width of said casing and positioned to ejectautomatically said member when released in the aforesaid manner.

ALBERT B. GOULDEN.

